Eagles and Cats in the Hats

Good Luck to the West Hancock Girls' BB Team at the State Tournaments this upcoming week! Because they will be playing on Tuesday morning, classes have been cancelled at WHCS. I'll add to this blog if we have school on Thursday.

GO! E-GALS!

Friday, March 2nd, is Dr. Seuss Day. It is also sometimes called National Read Across America Day, a reading program sponsored by the National Education Association. Either way, it's a day to celebrate that well-known American writer, poet, and cartoonist, Theodor Seuss Geisel or, as we know him, Dr. Seuss. He also wrote under the pen names of Leo LeSieg and Rosetta Stone.

Dr. Seuss was born on March 2, 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts. Throughout his career he wrote commercials, produced films during WW2, drew cartoons for periodicals and published 46 books, mostly for children. In 1954, William Ellsworth Spaulding, the director of the education division of Houghton Mifflin, challenged Theodor Seuss Geisel to "bring back a book children can't put down" using only 250 words that Spaulding felt every 1st grader should know. Nine months later Dr. Seuss returned with "The Cat in The Hat" using only 236 words.

Theodor Seuss Geisel died on September 24, 1991. In 1995, UCSD's University Library was renamed the Geisel library in honor of Theodor and his wife Audrey. In 2002 the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden opened in Springfield, MA.

Don't forget to wear your black, red, or white on Friday!

Mrs. T. Reiter
K-12 Teacher Librarian

Celebrate Black History Month

February is Black History Month. Below is a short list of books by and about black Americans:

1. Heart and Soul - Kadir Nelson
2. Ladder to the Moon - Maya Soetoro-Ng
3. Ninth Ward - Jewell Parker Rhodes
4. Giant Steps to Change the World - Spike & Tonya Lewis Lee
5. What Color is My World? - Kareen Abdul Jabbar
6. Chocolate Me! - Taye Diggs
7. Letters to a Young Brother - Hill Harper
8. My Uncle Martin's Big Heart - Angela Farris Walkins
9. Liberty Porter, First Daughter - Julia DeVillers
10. Teenie - Christopher Grant

This Tuesday, February 14, I will be in Kanawha. On Thursday, I will meet with 3 classes: K-Geelan will listen to Hokey Pokey: Another Prickly Love Story written by Lisa Wheeler and illustrated by Janie Bynum; 4-Hildman will practice their keyboarding skills in the computer lab; and 2-Glawe will watch the video of Miss Rumphius based on the book written by Barbara Cooney.

Read! Read! Read!

Mrs. T. Reiter, K-12 Teacher-Librarian

How Do You "Read" A Book?

As I opened the Google search engine to access this blog, I noticed that the Google Doodle of the day was honoring Charles Dickens on the occasion of his 200th birthday. What would Charles Dickens say to the way we read today? Not just the printed word in books, periodicals, or hard copy, but by electronic means.
I don't own a Kindle or a Nook. I do read books downloaded on my computer, but rarely. (I just like to be able to say I have!) I like the feel of a real book in my hands. But then, I'm a passionate book lover!
Students at WHMS & WHHS have been introduced to NEIBORS, a free book and audio book download service provided by area public libraries that is available on their laptops. AEA 267 provides Tru FLIX and Book FLIX for K-12 students and staff of WHCSD, a service where users can read/view/listen to fiction and nonfiction books and videos. Several students, both elementary and older, own Kindles, Nooks, and other e-book reading devices.
How do you "read" a book?

This Tuesday, I will meet with K-Jass to listen to "Hokey Pokey: Another Prickly Love Story" written by Lisa Wheeler and illustrated by Janie Bynum. Mrs. Tangeman's 2nd graders will listen to "If You'll Be My Valentine" written by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Fumi Kosaka and make heart mobiles.
On Thursday, I will meet with 3-Bruns where we will continue our review of biographies and how they are arranged on the shelves and make our own collective biography. Mrs. Kahlestorf's 4th graders will review Iowa AEA online data bases in the computer lab.

Read Every Day,
Theresa Reiter
K-12 Teacher Librarian